Dan Fumano: Questions, shock as art studio's death blamed on COVID-19 – Brockville Recorder and Times

Vancouver artists were devastated this week to learn of a long-running studio’s seemingly abrupt demise and are hoping it’s not too late to prevent yet another loss of crucial art space.

News has been spreading about the imminent closure of William Clark Studios, described as “an institution” of the city’s art scene for more than two decades where about 50 artists rent space. While the building’s managers blamed the facility’s closure this month on losses incurred because of the pandemic, artists who use the space and city staffers told Postmedia they have unanswered questions — as does the commercial landlord who ultimately owns the East Van property.

The disappearance of Vancouver’s cultural spaces is a long-standing problem faced by arts groups and city hall alike, both of whom released reports in the past year on the subject, warning of the risk of becoming “a city without art.”

The scale of this week’s William Clark situation — 50 artists told to vacate with only one month’s notice — makes it one of the biggest single losses in recent memory, said Esther Rausenberg, artistic and executive director of the Eastside Culture Crawl, which has used William Clark Studios in its annual event since its inception in the 1990s.

Vancouver “just can’t afford this type of loss,” Rausenberg said.

Although Vancouver has, sadly, seen many studio closures in recent years, Rausenberg and others agreed the particular case of William Clark seems different.

In Vancouver, as in other cities from San Francisco to Berlin, the biggest culprit in recent loss of art spaces has been real estate development pressures. But in this case, William Clark management blamed COVID-19 for the studio’s closure in a message sent the night of Sunday, May 31, telling artists to clear out by the end of June.

The tenancy arrangement at William Clark Studios is not uncommon for these kinds of art spaces. The property, a warehouse on Clark Drive, is owned by a group of investors, who lease it to William Clark Studios Inc., which then rents studio space to the individual artists.

When artist Janine Breck received the sad news Sunday night in an email from William Clark’s managers, she replied to inquire if her contacts at the city might be able to help save the space. But managers Tina Ozols and Gregg Steffenson replied to Breck saying the closure was a done deal, due to the “unprecedented pandemic event.”

Ozols expressed her sadness about the situation, but said she couldn’t discuss details. “I appreciate the care that people have for this situation, it’s too bad that I can’t really talk about it because it is confidential business,” Ozols said.

Ozols said William Clark was no longer viable after “a handful” of tenants moved out since the start of the COVID pandemic, and management couldn’t fill those spaces.

Dana Cromie, a painter who works at William Clark, said: “This place has been an institution. … It just doesn’t make sense to me to kick everybody out so it can sit empty.”

As is common in these situations, the artists said they had no idea who owned the property, but wondered whether plans might be in the works to redevelop the site.

But that’s not the case here, the landlords say.

Michael Chiang, a representative of the company that owns the property, told Postmedia that while his group might consider redeveloping the property in the future, they have no plans and “no timeline” to do so. Chiang said he only learned of William Clark Studios’ closure when Postmedia asked him about it.

The landlords had offered to waive some of the rent to support William Clark Studios’ application for federal assistance, Chiang said, although it seems the studio may not qualify for that program. The landlord also offered to defer half the rent until “an undetermined time,” Chiang said, but did not get a response from William Clark.

“We understand small businesses are having a tough time during the pandemic and we are trying to help out as much as we can,” Chiang said. “Now I’m finding out they’ve told their tenants over the weekend that they’re getting kicked out. It’s weird, I don’t know.”

The city is also stepping in to see if there’s anything they can do to help save William Clark.

Alix Sales, Vancouver’s head of cultural spaces and infrastructure, said Wednesday her team has been working to track down both the landlords and William Clark management since learning Monday about the “brutal” closure.

“It’s such a big blow, it’s such a critical space,” Sales said.

Sales and her colleague, cultural planner Kristen Lambertson, agreed some of the details and questions surrounding the William Clark closure make it an unusual one.

But, Lambertson pointed out: “We’re also in a very unusual time.”

dfumano@postmedia.com

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